Sailor Moon Crystal

Alright, I guess I really ought to talk about this one, as much as I really would love to avoid it.

Chances are, if you've been alive at any point in the past fifteen or so years, you've at least heard of Sailor Moon (Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon).  It's one of the classic icons of anime, one of the most popular series worldwide, and put magical girls on the map.  In my life, Sailor Moon was enjoyed during its hayday by middle and high school girls.  That being said, I never drank from this particular punch bowl.  I was much more into Gundam, Dragon Ball, and Outlaw Star.  So Sailor Moon was largely lost on me during that time.

So, skip time forward, I'm in my twenties, and anime and manga is more readily accessible to anyone with reliable internet.  And the strangest thing happens. Sailor Moon starts trending with my friends on Facebook, and not just with late teenage and twenty-something girls, but with twenty-something guys, too.  It was the damndest thing and I couldn't really make heads or tails of it.

So, you can imagine the collective brick-shitting that the internet underwent when the series reboot, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Crystal, was announced.  Well, Sailor Moon Crystal is here at last, so I thought I'd take a look and see what all the fuss was about.

I'll save you from any unnecessary suspense: I was largely unimpressed with SMC.  It was just...exactly what I expected.  It followed the old magical girl setup.  Audience meets girl, Usagi Tsukino, an average middle school girl just going about her life.  She meets a handsome stranger and a magic talking cat, Luna, who gives her her mystic amulet and tells her that she has to fight evil.  There's also some mysterious evil master that's...doing devious things.

So, with the guidance of her talking head, Luna, Usagi transforms and fumbles her way through her first fight against some villain.  And there's Tuxedo Mask who...despite wearing literally the same clothes from earlier that day, still manages to hide his identity.  I know the whole superhero-domino-mask thing was never really plausible but...just damn.

I wasn't kidding about LITERALLY the same clothes...>__>;;

So the first episode is over and I'm left wondering what all the fuss was about.  I won't say that the first episode of SMC was bad, but it wasn't amazing by any stretch of the imagination.  So I figure I'm not going to be continuing, and then I see more of my friends giving rave reviews of episode 2.  So I thought I'd give it another shot, maybe episode 2 was where it really gets good.

Same result.  It was okay, but not something I'd write home about.  I tried, my friends, I really did, but I just can't see what all the hype is about.

The way I see it, it's probably something similar to what went on with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  That was another reboot of a show for little girls that twenty-something men lost their shit over that I just couldn't get into.  To be fair, though, I would pick Sailor Moon Crystal over My Little Pony in a heartbeat.  Good god, I would pick waterboarding over My Little Pony...or being in the room with a brony.

But I digress, Sailor Moon Crystal was alright.  It was good, but didn't blow me away.  It's had a major visual upgrade from the original, which is cool, though there were some CG segments that were a little heavy-handed from my perspective.

To put a finer point on it, I would recommend Sailor Moon Crystal to people who liked the original.  Unfortunately, like with Persona 4: The Golden Animation, those people don't really need me to tell them whether or not they should watch this show.  However, unlike P4:GA, Sailor Moon Crystal is a legitimate remake and covers all the information, so no one who is new to the series will feel left behind.

So, if you were ever into Sailor Moon, or ever WANTED to be into Sailor Moon, that I'm very pleased to say that SMC loses none of what made the original series what it was.

Summer 2014 Anime Preview

I realize that I've been...a little negligent with this blog recently.  I would apologize, but I haven't really been watching a lot of anime recently.  No lie, folks.  But here's the good news, with the frankly oppressive heat in my neck of the woods, Summer is upon us, and that means a fresh, new anime lineup (among other things).

However, I would like to break protocol for a brief tangent here.  BBC America has been running their new show The Musketeers for three weeks now and it's SUPER good.  The first season's already had it's 10 episode run on BBC proper so if you don't feel like waiting...you know...there are ways of watching this show.  It's just great, quality television if you're into that sort of thing.

Anyways, I recently scouted the Summer Lineup at http://static.neregate.com/2014/06/neregate.com-Summer-2014-Anime-Chart-v3.jpg 

Among the admittedly staggering number of options this season, more than a handful of shows have caught my eye, or the eyes of those I directly associate myself with.  I can't promise I'll watch all of these shows, but if you're looking for a recommendation based on book covers and the judgements formed therein, you've come to the right place.

First, I think I'll touch on the returning favorites.  I told myself a while ago that I wouldn't do "second seasons" on these kinds of posts, but I figure a recommendation to pick up a second season is a retroactive recommendation for the original, so before we touch off on the new stuff, let me introduce the reigning champions.

The first local favorite to be making it's triumphant return is Sword Art Online.  I'll admit that I was not one of the pioneers of this show.  I didn't watch the original japanese run and only ended up seeing the first season little over a month ago dubbed on Netflix.  So sue me.

I showed up late to the Sword Art Online party, and partied my ass off with this show.  The first season was amazing, so my cadre and I are super pumped for Sword Art Online II.

Since this preview box provides literally no synopsis, I'll give a brief rehash.  Sword Art Online is about a guy's adventures in "full-dive" MMORPGs (virtual reality.  You literally go inside the game).  The first game, the titular Sword Art Online happened to be created by a mad genius with a god complex who turned the game into a literal reality for the players, and lives were on the line.

Now Sword Art is back, and I am personally going to jump on it so hard it's going to need back surgery.

Moving on to our second returning favorite: Space Dandy 2

If you've been keeping up with this blog, you'll know that I absolutely loved Space Dandy in it's first 12 episode run.  I love each of the characters, it's wacky self-parodizing nature, the art, the animation, the ridiculous premises, and it being simulcast in both Japanese and English.

I cannot overstate how highly I think of Space Dandy.  It's just a great, great show.  Super fun, super funny.  Watch it if you haven't and join me for season 2.

Now, I knew about this next one a long time before I even looked at the chart, but it's finally here, the remake of Sailor Moon, the original Magical Girl

Understand, I have never personally seen enough of Sailor Moon to say I've ever actually watched it, so a lot of the hype was largely lost on me.  But, a lot of my friends are really into it who you wouldn't think would be and my fiance has always wanted to watch, so I'll be along for the ride this time around.

Finally, before we get onto new shows, I'd like to address one final returning show.  Well...more like the anime adaptation of the port of a game which has also had it's own anime adaptation.  I am, of course, referring to Persona 4: The Golden Animation

P4:GA is the anime for Persona 4: The Golden which, as I said, is the PS Vita port of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 (originally on the PlayStation 2).  I am a bit of a Persona fan, and 4 in particular, and The Golden had a bunch of additional content that I really loved.  Now, I've already seen Persona 4: The Animation, but only managed to snare part 1 for my collection, so I'm very excited about P4:GA because it's the game I love, with the amazing extra content, and another excuse to give Atlus ALL my money.

And so, with all of the rehashes and revisits out of the way, we can finally address all of the virgin territory that placed between the 6 and 10 on Danny's excitement graph.

First up is Tokyo Ghoul

Seems to me like a zombie show, and I was about to overlook it, but the whole "identities masked in mystery" thing caught my attention.  Are they...like...normal people who need to eat flesh?  I dunno, but I'll check it out.  If it's weak, I'll bail, but a friend of mine has already posted the opening to her Facebook, so I'm guessing that I will at least leave this show with moderate satisfaction.

Next we have Rail Wars

I'm going to be completely honest with you, folks, this show made it onto my docket as a joke.  When I read the premise, my eyes almost rolled out of my skull.  This smacks to me as one of those attempts Japan occasionally makes to turn something completely mundane into something interesting.  I'll get back to you after I've watched episode 1, but prospects are not high on this one.

Moving ever onward, we come across DRAMAtical Murder.

I blame this one on my fiance.  I'm not closed minded or anything, but "boys-love" really isn't my shtick.  But hey, could be eye opening for me.  It could be awesome, I don't know.  Like a...gay Sherlock Holmes or something.  Whatever, I'm down, we'll see where this goes.

This one will come as a shocker, but I am actually responsible for Sabagebu!

Reading the synopsis, I figure it might be like K-On! meets The Hunger Games.

Wait...this sounds familiar.  Oh yeah, that's almost exactly what I thought about blah-blah-blah C3 bu from a year ago, which I totally bailed on after...what...2 episodes?  Whatever, I won't get fooled again.  It gets 2 episodes to impress me and then we're done.

At this point of the blog, we reach the first new show that I'm really excited for, Tokyo ESP

Yes, it's got a crazy premise, I'll give you that, but that's also how Gravity Rush started, and I love the ever-living crap out of that game.  If my instincts are right about this show, I think there will be superhuman streetfights about, so I'm strapped in for Tokyo ESP, and here's to hoping it doesn't go all "gravedigger show" on me (high expectations met with...utter disappointment, you might remember also from a year ago).

Last on the list, we come to Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance.

If you have trouble finding this one (after it airs, of course), try switching the words "Blade Dance" in your search for "kenbu", that might yield better results.  Anyways, Seirei Tsukai, based on the premise alone, seems like it's going to be a fantasy-harem-comedy(?) [<- I'll hedge my bets on that last one].  All in all, I'd surmise it as a "Fantasy Infinite Stratos".  Sidebar, Infinite Stratos is pretty good...and funny.

And those are they.  Granted, there are a ton of other shows coming out this season, so if there are any other shows that catch your eye that you want me to check out, feel free to drop it in the comment section or what have you.  I've got a lot on my plate this season and I can't wait to hit the trail again, watching new shows, spreading the hype on great shows, dropping the hammer on shitty ones, and generally speaking embark once again on this crazy wild journey called life...with anime.

Thanks for reading, have a great Summer Season, folks!